Cathe LITE Reviews

[Messe]

I just finished Strong Body Stacked Sets: Lower as is — no added abs or extended stretch. I used dumbbells for the barbell squats but kept the barbell for the plié squats and deadlifts. I loved the exercises Cathe chose as well as the pace of the workout and appreciated the fact that I didn't need to drag out a lot of equipment.

[Pam61]

Originally Posted by dianestjohn

I agree Cathe loves her long warmups but to me that is one of the best things about her as an instructor. For a cardio workout it makes it so much easier for me if there is an extended warmup, I feel like I can work twice as hard after a long warmup and not feel fried. I’ve been doing some 20-minute workouts lately where the warmup is about a minute and I feel like I’m gasping for breath after the first interval whereas with Cathe I feel like I’m in the zone and can go forever and get more benefit from the workout and not feel horrible in the process. The warmups that DO bug me are many of the Firms - “Step touch, step touch, step touch OOOOHHH that was hard!”

I Cathe's extended warmups. There have been a few days when I've strung multiple extended warmups together and called it a day, when I didn't have the energy to do an entire workout. Especially if I were doing step and only wanted to learn one combo, and didn't want to tax my brain with anything more.

[Hilary]

Does Cathe or the workout say what weights she's using before each exercise? I usually depend on the guide for this, but there isn't one yet.

[Tugger31]

Other than the extended stretches, what makes these workouts different than other Cathes? This is the one set I did not pre-order just b/c I wanted to downsize my collection a bit and just not buy anything else (though I did add a few more Jessica's to my collection)

[DHKWriter]

Originally Posted by angie_nrs

I did not preview before starting Metabolic Blast. I did the premix option adding in Abs #2 which clocked in at about 50 minutes. I do think this was easier than the Metabolic w/o in ICE. I could have increased my weights in this with the exception of just a couple of shoulder exercises, so I definitely think this is intermediate but can easily be ramped up.

There is a transition between the standing portion and floor portion which is pretty intense. I think it's mostly because Cathe just finished a pretty good shoulder burn in the last standing exercise and then moves right to the floor where you put all your weight on one shoulder.....that is already fatigued. I was dripping sweat on my mat at that point! All in all I liked the variety and most of the moves. I REALLY appreciated the fact that there were NO push ups!! I was going to add on the calorie crush, but noticed there seems to be a lot of burpees in that, which I just wasn't in the mood for today.

I enjoyed this workout and will likely increase the weights the next time, but still got a good sweat without feeling destroyed at the end of it. My shoulders are a bit sore as are the abs. I didn't even look at the clock on my player until the 21 minute mark, so that is definitely a bonus. Plus, it looks like there are a lot of neat premixes and bounus to explore.

The music was meh. There was a call back to the "you want this party started right?".....from Intensity series I believe, which was kinda cool, but I don't like the synthesizer music that went with it. However, it's not a complete deal breaker. I just wish the music was better.

I liked Abs #2. It was challenging but doable. It wasn't too long and it didn't rep me to death. I will do this add on often, which is not something I do with the ICE Abs. I think Cathe has a tendency to make the add on's too long when I just want a 6 minute (or so) add on of Abs. I'm not sure exactly how long this was, but it moved along at a good pace and since the w/o is fairly short, the add was the perfect length of time for me.

Overall I liked it! I would rate it a 9/10

I also did this one today and did the whole thing without gasping or feeling any dread; it's been a while since I could say that about anything 40 minutes long. Love that there were no push-ups and burpees; those are tough on me now. I went heavier on all the weights, and I enjoyed that the moves were mixed up and not totally repetitive; all in all, I think it went by quickly and was a nice workout without being killer.

Donna H

[Floren]

Where do you get the tubing, loop, and band that are used in the Body Weights & Bands workout? thanks!

[kittybug]

Originally Posted by Floren

Where do you get the tubing, loop, and band that are used in the Body Weights & Bands workout? thanks!

Thank you for asking. I'd forgotten about this and I don't have tubing with handles, though I have a band and loops. What tubing does everyone use?

[cataddict]

I have a tube with handles, but I normally substitute a band for tube work. I got my loops and band from Powersystems.com.

[rhbrand]

I did the Upper Body Stacked sets workout today.

I enjoyed it. She goes through a circuit of moves then repeats it once, then moves on to the next pair of body parts.

Tris and Chest
Shoulders
Back and Biceps.

My only problem is I wish it had one more set for back and one less for biceps. The second set I subbed another back move for one of the bicep moves. But otherwise I enjoyed it. A nice short burner of an upper body workout in less than 40 min.

[cataddict]

Today I did the bonus Pyramid DVD. The non premix workout is 71 minutes long, starts with lower body and moves to upper body. I didn't do the Abs routine, which would have made it a total of 80 minutes.

Aside from the "regular" workout there are a lot of premixes, and I do mean a lot. I am very happy about that. There are so many options that I see myself getting much use from this DVD.

The lower body workout uses dumbbells a step (which you could do without if you don't have one for most of the exercises, although the step up one would be tricky ), and a gliding device. I went heavier by a couple of pounds on the poundage that Cathe uses. She tells you at the beginning of each segment what weights they will use. As an aside, one of the premixes eliminates the disk work for those that don't like it, as I know some here don't.

The upper body workout uses dumbbells and a stability ball. I was actually glad to use the ball. It had been awhile, and I had to fill it with air before I started. I again used a few more pounds than Cathe did, except for lying extensions since I can get tendonitis in my elbow from going too heavy. Again, either a step or just a mat could be subbed in for the ball. It did provide a different challenge, and I'm glad she used it.

The extra poundage and the length of the workout made it an advanced workout IMHO at least to me. I enjoyed it and really felt worked at the end. Definitely a keeper!